Inescapable
by Emo-Shukun
Summary: It all started when Toushirou opened his mouth and told Ichigo to disappear. Since then, Ichigo has been on his mind, endlessly. What is the big secret the Ichigo is not willing to tell anyone? Is it really that serious? We'll find out...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 01**

**Inescapable**

**- Now –**

Soft silvery white strands of hair gently fluttered in the hushed winds that were heading southeast from his spot outside the office where he leaned against the railing to overlook Seireitei in order to watch the sunrise with gratitude of it being so peacefully if only for just this moment. A smile crept forth on his face as he watched the slow morning rising from its faint darkened slumber with content silence until feeling a familiar reiatsu that was once so noticeable but now faint to notice due the supposed training that many had heard of the person going through in the other world. His turquoise orbs angrily turned away from the peaceful sunrise to look below the third story to see that there were two men walking together which happened to be Abarai Renji and Kurosaki Ichigo, and if anything, they could be considered the troublesome two when it came right down to it. Recently however, the orange-haired man had been lurking around Soul Society more often and witnessed roaming Seireitei freely and doing minor errands with the man that he was with right now, but no one bothered to think much on the appearance of someone deemed worthy of their trust. Just as the turquoise began to turn back to the beautiful sunrise of the morning, they caught something suspicious and turned immediately back to the two so that he could confirm what it was that he was seeing; the two were casually holding hands as if... as if they were taking a morning walk together, like a couple. It was so bizarre for the one leaning on the railing to see such an action between two grown males—let alone two people he knew, and so the turquoise eyes tried to direct their attention to what was left of the sunrise so that the others would have their privacy of being together, but staring could not be helped. By now, they were passing in front of the little one watching them and they gave no reason to even acknowledging that he was there as they walked on without a care in the world, and this slightly irritated him so he adjusted to the sight that he was seeing and decided to speak out to them finally.

"What are you doing in Soul Society, Kurosaki Ichigo?" The white-haired captain asked stoically.  
Both of the two stopped and looked up. "Oh wow, hey Toushirou! What are you doing awake?"  
He growled at the lack of respect shown, _'you may be stronger, but you're as stupid as ever.'_  
The red-haired lieutenant nudged quietly at the other, "you can at least address him properly."  
"Huh?" Ichigo looked at him with curiosity. "Why? No one else cares how I address them."  
"Actually, you get Kuchiki taichou annoyed by it sometimes. He says you're too friendly with him."  
His eyes rolled, "whatever, I don't see the big deal, unless you want me to give them pet names."

Angry about his question avoided, Toushirou hopped down and crossed his arms, "I asked you a question, Kurosaki."

"See, even he gives you some respect." The lieutenant pointed out as he released Ichigo's hand. "Now show some back."  
"You know you're picking an argument that you're not going to win." Ichigo pretended to clean his ear with a finger.  
This angered the lieutenant who clenched his fists. "Keh," he turned around with his arms crossed defiantly.  
Now the orange-haired substitute Shinigami turned to the little captain, "wait, what was your question again?"  
Toushirou closed his eyes angrily and repeated himself, "I asked what you are doing in Soul Society, bastard."  
He grinned at this and looked to the redhead, "oh yeah Renji, I felt the respect coming from the end of that sentence."  
"I'm not talking to you." Renji announced with his back turned to him angrily. "I'm going to my lodge without you."

"Alright, I'll stay with Toushirou then," Ichigo teased as he came over to the little captain's side, "see you later, _Abarai fukutaichou_."

Renji turned around to fume at the orange-haired representative with tinted cheeks and was about to retort with a yell, but because of Hitsugaya Toushirou was standing right there in the midst of things, he backed down from it by calming down and bowing to his superior before turning around and left. Ichigo smiled lightly at the pouting lieutenant that managed to storm away heatedly to his lodge; it was obvious that Renji was quite the jealous when someone else would received Ichigo's devoted attention, but to prove that he could handle everything, he left without making a single remark. Toushirou could not help but feel confused and a little bit unnerved to see that he was now in some sort of relationship issue between Renji and Ichigo without seeing it coming, and so he had his turquoise orbs peer up at the Shinigami representative with an irritated scowl as he spoke once again.

"I won't ask a third time." The captain stated.

"Yeah, yeah," Ichigo scratched the back of his head. "I just came here to see how everyone was doing."  
"It appears you came to see what Abarai was doing." He hinted his curiosity of where those to stood.  
"Ah, you were watching then?" The man shrugged. "You don't have any problems with it, do you?"  
Snorting at the question, he turned around to walk away, "I don't have an opinion on couples."  
"Anyway, I **did** come to see everyone, not just Renji." Therefore, he asked curiously, "what's up?"  
Toushirou stopped in place and spoke. "My business is nothing you need to know about, Kurosaki."

"Don't be so uptight," Ichigo walked over to his side, "I meant how you are doing—I heard you've been overworking."  
_'Most likely Matsumoto opened her large mouth and spoke to him about doing work for the fifth squad.'_ He grunted angrily.  
"Okay, how about this then," the representative started over, "how's your friend doing, that... Hinamori Momo?"  
Toushirou glared. "Is there a logical reason as to why you believe you need to know any of this information, Kurosaki?"  
He blinked, "does there need to be logic to be concerned for friends?" His hand lowered away from his head slowly.  
"You are sadly mistaken if you assume that we, you and I, are friends. We are nothing but mere acquaintances."

"Brat," Ichigo huffed before decided to walk off, "alright then, I'll go talk to Rangiku-san and just talk with her about it."  
"What did you just call me?" The little captain scowled, only to have his head patted on as if he was just a little kid.  
He smiled just to piss him off and replied. "Don't worry about it—" he stopped mid-sentence and sighed, "damn it."  
"Kurosaki Ichigo-dono," A man called out; it was Sasakibe Choujirou. "You are being requested for by soutaichou."  
Ichigo removed his hand from Toushirou's head, "I already saw the old man last night, why does he need me now?"  
"Sir," he paused and glanced at the tenth squad captain, but returned to looking to Ichigo, "please follow me."  
"No thank you." The representative sighed as he crossed his arms. "My answer to him is _still_ the same."  
"Kurosaki-dono, I am only following orders. Soutaichou would like to see you in his office as soon as possible."  
Growling, Ichigo turned to him. "As you can see, I'm busy talking to _Hitsugaya taichou_, you're interrupting us."

"Forgive me sir, but if you do not come now, I believe he said he would _force_ you to come." Choujirou bowed nervously.

Toushirou continued to watch back and forth between the Commanding-General's lieutenant and the Shinigami representative while trying to figure out what it was that the elder captain wanted with the orange-haired terror when his very being would always cause some sort of constant trouble or issues. However, it was not unnoticed that Ichigo had finally said Toushirou's title as a captain, but in return, the subject seem like it was very serious for some reason—but then again, it must have been serious if Yamamoto-Genryuusai Shigekuni wanted to see Kurosaki Ichigo , and the lieutenant afraid of revealing information. Suddenly, two messengers appeared and said the same thing as the lieutenant; that the Commanding-General was awaiting for his presence in his office for a private conversation, and Toushirou watched as the orange-haired Shinigami substitute sighed in annoyance of the pressure.

"Alright already, I'll go! You're dismissed!" Ichigo roared in frustration because it was still early in the morning. "Damn it."  
"What is so important that he would send several men to retrieve you?" The little captain asked; trying not to sound interested.  
He turned to look at the little one before sighing and putting his hand in his robe, "sorry, but it's none of your business, right?"  
Snorting at the backfire, he replied, "I suppose." He had been off guard when Ichigo released a hell butterfly. "What the..."  
"I guess you wouldn't know, huh?" His hands went to his sides with surprise. "It's forbidden for taichou to know about it anyway."  
"Trying to rub this in my face will not work, for I have no concern of why you are summoned." Turquoise eyes rolled in annoyance.

"Oh? So, if to say that I _might_ be stealing your position as taichou, you still wouldn't be concerned?" Ichigo grinned.

Immediately the little captain became all ears to the substitute, "what did you say?" Little did he know that he fell for the bait.  
"Ah, so you **are** curious, you just didn't want to show it," he grinned, "you're predictable once I've adjusted to that childish attitude."  
Snorting in annoyance, Toushirou retorted. "The only child standing here would be you—flaunting your feelings against everyone."  
"At least I am not afraid to _show_ my feelings though, right? It's important to express them." His hand waved. "See ya Toushirou."

"It's Hitsugaya taichou to you," sighed the white-haired captain who turned around to walk up the stairs to the office where he was at earlier. _'As if I would be replaced when there are three spaces left to fill, how stupid.'_ He thought to himself; a little insecure of the slightest thought of removal from the Gotei 13—he would have nowhere to go. _'Damn Kurosaki Ichigo for making me think of this...' _

There was no way in Heaven or Hell would he lose his position as the tenth squad captain when there were still opening for squads three, five, and nine; there was no need for him to be removed from a position that he deserved by showing his ability of bankai and his quick thinking that would help out. His gentle pale hand slid open the door and walked down the barely empty hallway where some lower ranked Shinigami were passing through with assortments of papers that needed to be handed out to others eventually, and he finally made it to the administration office where there would be peace and quiet. He opened the sliding door and looked in the room and instantly scowled at what he saw, two lieutenants were lounging carelessly on the couches while drinking sake without even noticing that a captain had made his presence known by emitting his very irritated growl once he crossed his arms. Abarai Renji and Matsumoto Rangiku lifted their heads up to see the little white-haired bundle of endless working without having any fun by doing something, and so they swayed the tenth squad captain without a care and made a toast to Renji's rough relationship with Ichigo. This crap about relationships was somehow getting on his last nerve so early in the morning that it made him ignore the two of the lieutenants and just began working on the paperwork that arrived for him to work on, and it turned out that there would be a few missions later on this week. All matters of concentration began to fade from the paperwork and went towards the two drunken idiots lying on opposite couches, as it was mainly Renji talking about how abusive Ichigo was with him while Rangiku comforted him by saying that it was better than him running away all of the time. They went on and on about Ichigo and his 'manly figure' and his 'unbelievable touches,' and it made the little captain feel a bit ill at the conversation of love and sex—it could be because he had never encountered either subjects mentally or physically, but it was still disgusting to him right now.

"But his... abuse... it's addicting," Renji's tone slurred his words.  
"I bet..." she rubbed her breasts, "you're tempting me to ask him..."  
"His mines... bitch," he grumbled, falling off the couch with a thud, "ow..."  
"Aw..." Rangiku flopped on her back, "you share the action...'bout threesome?"  
_'Can someone __**please**__ take at least __**one**__ of these idiots?'_ Toushirou thought angrily.

As if a pray had been answered, someone knocked on the door and entered. "Sorry to interrupt," Ichigo appeared surprisingly and searched around to see Renji faced down on the ground, "...drinking again, damn it." He kicked the fallen man, "hey, get up or else I'll leave you here to suffer." When there was no reaction, he kicked a little harder, "Renji, get up."

Renji turned over, groaning. "I don't wanna get up. You... you get down here." He hiccupped.  
"I told you not to drink after waking up you idiot." The orange-haired Shinigami scolded.  
"Kuro... Ichi... taichou..." Rangiku swayed her hand, "you too uptight like taichou..."  
He rolled his eyes and turned around, "I'm going home Renji, see you later—"  
"You ain't leaving!" Renji sat up immediately. "I got no kiss yet!"  
"I don't like the taste of sake much and you know it."

"What was your summoning about, Kurosaki?" The captain questioned sternly.  
Turning to him, he replied curiously, "well now, aren't _you_ the social bug?"  
His body stiffened, "it was only a question. Never mind..." He backed down.  
"Don't play coy with me Toushirou, and I told you I'm forbidden to tell you."  
"Since when did you abide by the rules?" He grabbed a cup of tea on his desk.  
Ichigo scratched his head, "yeah... I wonder," he huffed, "blame the old man."  
"You never listened to his commands either. Are you becoming loyal to him finally?"

"Hah," he half laughed at that, "I don't obey orders—suggestions maybe, but not orders." Ichigo sighed and looked around the silent administration office as he added. "Besides, I think you know me better than that; that family and friends are my first priority." His soft brown eyes turned to the little captain with a smile, "and that I would do anything for them. For them, I'd obey an order." Just as Toushirou was going to be sly about the words and demand to address him by his title, he spoke, "if I feel like obeying them, that is."

Angered about this, he snorted and held the cup of tea to his lips, "then do me a favor and disappear for a while." He joked badly.  
After two minutes of silence, both lieutenants were out cold from drinking, he asked, "That's what you want from me, Toushirou?"  
Not noticing the slight hurt in the other's tone, he continued. "Yes, that is an _order_ from a **friend**—if, that is what we are of course."  
"Trying to test me, huh?" He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Then can I say goodbye to some people first then?"  
_'Is he taking me seriously?'_ There was only way to find out. "No, so hurry up and leave, I have paperwork to do."

Ichigo frowned, "if that's what you want..." he took out an earpiece and spoke, "hey Choujirou, is Gramps there?" The lieutenant confirmed his question. "Good, then tell him that, by order of Hitsugaya taichou, I agree to his demands. I'm ready for departure." With that stated and again confirmed—he walked over to Renji's collapsed form. "I wish I could take you with me, but it's against the rules, you know? But you better take care of Rukia, you damn dog." His attention went to the now surprised white-haired captain, "I know it might seem a little much, but when Renji wakes up, can you tell him what happened? That I'm going to 'disappear' and all?"

It seems that Kurosaki Ichigo had taken Toushirou's poor joke too seriously and managed to make it a reality, but that could not be possible when there were so many people that would most likely panic because of his disappearance, and he immediately stood up once the man began to glow. The pain of seeing the familiar act struck the small one hard and stepped around the desk and came towards the orange-haired representative that was glowing with a glittering blue hue that would match the color of appearance from his reiatsu, and a mere replica of forming cold ice. Before he could call out an objection to the other's agreeing mind of his words, a large callused hand came up and caressed the silvery white strands of his hair gently—as if he was trying to tell him that everything was going to be okay despite that he was going to disappear for forever. This twisted Toushirou's insides which made him smack the hand away from his head and looked up and the brown eyes to yell out his objection, but flashes of this familiar routine made him fall silent; that dreaded feeling of guilt was trying to smother him again as it had long ago.

Toushirou frowned pleadingly.

"Don't give me that look, Toushirou." Ichigo smiled as his body began to fade.  
The captain tried to object, "I didn't mean like this you bastard."  
"Oh well," he chuckled without a care. "But I hate..." he was gone.

"Kurosaki!" Toushirou yelled in panic to the top of his lung at the disappearance, startling the two lieutenants as they stirred awake.

The small captain stood there frozen from disbelief of how serious the man had vanished in front of his eyes so willingly that it shattered his resolve and reopened the wounds of the past, was it really his way to prove his loyalty to him—by sacrificing himself by misunderstanding another's desire of want the substitute to leave his office? Rangiku was the first to sit up and look around for any sign of the orange-haired person that was there last time she looked, and then turned to her captain to see him standing in the middle of the administration office... staring wide-eyed in either surprise or fear about something. Renji was the second to sit up and glanced around in hopes of seeing his partner standing before him or sitting against the couch as he would when he would wake up from his slumber, but there was not even a shred of reiatsu for him to trace to state that he was even there to begin with.

"Wasn't Ichigo in here?" Rangiku groaned as she rubbed her forehead.  
"Must've been mad that I was drinking," Renji grumbled tiredly, getting himself up.  
"I bet you'll lose a lot of cuddling time!" She beamed out in a teasing laughter.  
His cheeks reddened, "s-shut up, I barely get any cuddle time anyway!"

"Abarai..." Toushirou regained little composure and looked to the lieutenant, "I'm sorry..."

The redhead raised an eyebrow, "what's Hitsugaya taichou apologizing for?"  
"I don't know—he probably made Ichigo run away." Rangiku continued laughing.  
"Kurosaki Ichigo is no more," the captain stated, "he's gone, and so, I'm truly sorry."  
"Don't worry about it; I'll go visit him in the human world on my days off." Renji replied.  
The busty woman saw that uncertain look in those turquoise eyes, "what happened?"

Toushirou silently walked out of the room and tried to be as quick as possible without making it look like he was in rush about the situation; but what situation was that supposed to be—the one where he joked by telling the idiot to disappear from his sight and he unfortunately took it seriously? A black and red fluttering Hell Butterfly made its appearance in front of the preoccupied captain, but it managed to gather his attention long enough to give him a message that there was an emergency meeting for the captains, and that it was requested that all of the captains were presented immediately. Well it made it all the more easier for the tenth squad captain to find the Commanding-General instead of going on instincts to find him, and so he turned the corner of the hallway and headed towards the meeting that was being assembled at this very moment, but why did it have to be now? Give or take seven minutes later, everyone was in the presence of the elder whom sat down on his chair with his staff in hands as he waited for them to be prepared for the things that he had to say, they could only hope that it was nothing serious right now after all that they had been through recently. Silence made the air somewhat uncomfortable for the smallest captain because he wanted to talk in private about the situation with Ichigo disappearing in front of his eyes as if he ...died, the staff knocked against the flooring between the feet of the Commanding-General, and everyone turned to look at the elder as the meeting began.

"First of all, thank you all for coming at such short notice." Shigekuni started, his eyes contently closed. "This meeting will be short and simple; the subject is the substitute Shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo. As of today, he no longer exists in our world." He announced.

"Oh, did he return home already?" Juushirou asked confusedly. "I saw him this morning, walking around."  
"What do you mean by 'no longer exists,' you make it sound like he was killed, aren't you?" Shunsui asked calmly.  
"Precisely," Shigekuni stated, "none of you, nor your subordinates are allowed to waste time searching for him, understood?"  
_'So he really died?'_ Toushirou thought to himself insecurely. _'Because I had told him that I wanted him to disappear, but why...?'_  
"How the hell did Ichigo die?" Kenpachi asked in bitter annoyance. "I didn't sense him fighting anyone this morning."  
"The cause is unknown," the old man stated, meaning that it was actually confidential. "I will personally look into this."  
_'But you know that it was my fault that I gave the order,'_ Toushirou thought, _'so why not punish me for what I had done?'_

* * *

The news about the death of Kurosaki Ichigo had spread across Soul Society faster than wildfire itself, it went down to even the smallest infants ears to hear, and the Rukongai part of Soul Society mourned with cries for the unfortunate loss of a great man as the Seireitei part of Soul Society mourned with silence for him. Captains and lieutenants continuously asked one another how a man so strong and brave, died without any record of how it happened, but alas; no one could look into it as a murder case because it was forbidden once the Commanding-General said that it was off limits to everyone. Some of them murmured with one another saying how there was possibly some hope because it was forbidden to look at the case files, but it could also be that a man that is human and Shinigami should not be remembered, there were so many options that it left many people in turmoil. There was one captain that the turmoil had struck before the meeting—when he watched the orange-haired man fade away like a distant memory; a memory that they had to forget about ...but how could anyone forget the idiot when he made an impact on everyone he met? Not able to face his squad or lieutenant at the time being, Toushirou went to his lodge and leaned against the railing to observe the noon clouds scurrying together and merging so that they too could cry for the loss of Kurosaki Ichigo, and he hated the damned feeling of being guilty. A familiar reiatsu came towards the lodge and knew who it was before turning to look at him with masked eyes; wanting the red-haired lieutenant to just turn around and leave him alone so the day could be over with, but then Ichigo's voice rang in his mind, telling him to explain what had happened when he was out cold. Renji watched the little captain silent to see if he would falter at his appearance because of earlier, and then turned around to have his back lean casually against the railing with his eyes closed with content, he remembered Ichigo telling him that Toushirou could be sensitive with things like this.

"I had a feeling you would be here," Renji started quietly. "Ichigo once told me that, if someone's upset, they'd go to their room."  
In a quiet tone, the small one spoke out, "I am truly sorry for your loss, Abarai. If I had know that he would do such a thing, I—"  
"He ain't dead," he interrupted, smirking as he looked to the side. "He might be far away, but he's definitely not dead."  
"I saw Kurosaki fade away, how can you be so positive about him being alive?" His tone lowered softly.  
"He doesn't die without a fight, and he lives for his friends." Chuckling, the lieutenant added. "He would live and die for us."

Toushirou looked up at the content lieutenant with a frown, and then turned away, "Kurosaki wanted me to tell you what happened after he told you to take care of Kuchiki Rukia." His eyes lowered with shame. "He had told me that he would do anything for friends and family, so I attempted to joke by telling him to disappear, and afterwards he faded away as if he was really dead."

"If he _is_ dead then, he'll be waiting on the other side for us." Renji smiled. "If he _isn't_ dead, we'll be waiting for him here."  
"You two, you had a relationship, didn't you?" He looked up at him. "I saw you holding each other's hands this morning."  
"Yeah, but I think that you're the last person to know about it." A finger scratched his cheek lightly, "everyone knew about it."  
"Zaraki taichou, Soi Fon taichou, and Kuchiki taichou even knew?" The captain watched his head nod at the question.  
"They didn't care for it much, Yamamoto soutaichou allowed it because it was Ichigo, and if we'll still follow our orders."

_'E-Even the old codger knew about their damn relationship,'_ his head dipped, _'how irritating...'_

"I have to be honest though that I'm going to miss him," the lieutenant turned around and leaned forward against the railing, "Ichigo had been under stress recently because of soutaichou," he tried to think about it, "every time I asked, he said that it was forbidden."  
Toushirou attempted to smile at the man, "you like being with Kurosaki, don't you?" Receiving a curious look, he turned away and frowned, "you both seem content when being with each other—I'm not trying to judge you two either, I'm just saying."  
"We don't care what others think about it, but I couldn't say the same for myself though." He turned around again and sat against the rail. "I think I was terrified about others finding out about it, but Ichigo took it head on and took my hand." His cheeks tinted red.  
"Kurosaki isn't someone who seems to be afraid of such a trivial thing," the captain mumbled aloud, "but I guess one would be a little nervous to have others find out about that you're homosexuals. At least things turned out alright for you both."

"I'm the homosexual, Ichigo's bisexual." Renji announced quietly. "I thought I liked Rukia in that type of way, but I realized that I was protecting her more than falling for her, and then I noticed Ichigo and how he was with everyone." He scratched his head. "After I accepted that part of me, I confronted Ichigo and he accepted my feelings." A thought ran across his mind and chuckled as he placed his hand down against his leg. "Even in his sleep, he has a frown gracing his lips, but I still have problems understanding."

Toushirou rubbed his temples delicately as he tried to ask him. "Why is it you're here Abarai?"  
"To make sure you're not blaming yourself about Ichigo, it's what he'd want." He replied quietly.  
"What, he wouldn't want me to keep in my emotions to myself again?" His eyes rolled.

Renji looked up at the white-haired captain to see that he was looking out towards the clouds as it began to sprinkle slowly and he frowned when seeing that the boy was in deep thought. "He wouldn't want you to feel guilty." He lifted his right hand and looked at it as if he expected Ichigo to grab it and give him comfort, but it was not going to come to him and so he sighed tiredly and stood up. "Also, if I had decided that I was going to hate you for what happen, nothing but chaos would come from it. Ichigo would be upset that I was angry with you, that, and you're a captain—so I wouldn't be able to do anything about it." His hands patted himself so that the dust would leave his attire. "I better get going or else Kuchiki taichou would beat me senselessly."

"Abarai," the little captain called out quietly, "one question."  
He tilted his head confusedly, "uh... sure... what is it?"  
"Why do you like Kurosaki Ichigo in that fashion?"

Renji blinked in surprise and took a moment to think, "I guess because, no matter what happens, he seems to understand what I try to tell him?" He then grinned. "Despite losing to him every time, it's great to argue with him. However, I think it's because he is more loyal to others than anyone I know." His hand raised and saluted the captain happily. "Well, see you later Hitsugaya taichou."

The captain looked to the stars… worried about Ichigo for once.

* * *

A/N: I have a lot of stories to catch up on right now, so I don't know when the next update will be.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 02

Inescapable

- Now –

_A day passed and people began to speak again, a week passed and people began to stop crying, a month passed and people were beginning to forget, and then two months passed until the subject of Kurosaki Ichigo was brought up in a meeting that the damn old Commanding-General had summoned as an emergency. This time it was rather different from how everything had been recently because both captains and lieutenants were present, and this could only mean that there was something very important that had to be discussed with all of them, and so the lieutenants listened, and the captains listened intently. Something was bothering the elder so much that he waited nearly fifteen minutes before deciding to talk about the situation, and this was after he declared that this was about the substitute Shinigami that had mysteriously died a couple of months ago, and everyone was prepared to hear him out._

_"I have found evidence that he is in Hueco Mundo." Shigekuni stated. "Soi Fon taichou, take the Stealth Force and find any traces of Kurosaki Ichigo, either dead or alive, and return him to Soul Society immediately." His eyes opened fiercely though barely open, "if he is alive still, then it is possible that Hueco Mundo may corrupt him and turn against Soul Society, becoming our enemy."_

_Renji spoke out quickly, "soutaichou!" He bowed quickly in apology, "please allow me to go, I have entered Hueco Mundo just as Kuchiki Rukia had!" His emotions were obviously being revealed during this meeting, but he did not care right now. "Please!" _

_Surprisingly, the Commanding-General nodded his head. "Do whatever it takes to bring Kurosaki Ichigo back."  
Toushirou turned and bowed his head, "my fukutaichou and I would also like to join the search for Kurosaki Ichigo."  
"Keh, count me and some others in too then." Kenpachi chuckled. "I bet there's some Hollow that need to be killed."  
"All Shinigami are granted permission to leave in order to return Kurosaki Ichigo," Shigekuni added, "go!" _

* * *

Perhaps one hundred Shinigami members had flooded into Hueco Mundo the next day in search for the comrade that was said to have died months ago, and they were all told to retrieve the man whether he may be dead or alive—so they would all obey the command that was given to them. Half of the rescue mission was searching up the white-sanded desert of Hueco Mundo while the rest were searching down below in the darkness called the Forest of Menos, and there have already been reports of fifteen dead Shinigami in the latter rescue party where only three were reported in the former rescue party. Right now, Renji and the other five that went to the human world with him when the Arrancar War were in the group beneath the white-sand where the trees grew taller than anything, and they were all trying to be quiet so that they would not draw any attention to them by the Hollow. For a few hours, they decided that they needed to get just a few hours of rest because they were looking for three days straight—or at least it felt like three days because they were all exhausted, and so right now Toushirou was having his shift to watch over their little camping party. They had fought with one another about searching for Ichigo and some said to go on nonstop while others said to rest awhile so that they would have the strength to fight if needed, and despite the fact that Renji nearly killed Yumichika out of fear, Toushirou decided that they would **indeed** rest a while. The guilt had never left his soul as he continued to wait for his name to be called out, or for his head to be patted or rustled by his hand, or even that irritating understanding that would make him and others feel secure about the world around them—it was so hard to explain the feeling of it.

Toushirou stoked the small fire so it would crackle and give off a little more heat for them to have against the cold forest, and his let a frustrated sigh escape through his lips that turned into a small puff of smoke before fading into the air; he liked it being cold, but it was not under the right circumstance. A lower cluttering sound was heard in the distance, which had the little captain slowly rise to his feet and touched the hilt of his Zanpakutou while cautiously beginning to walk towards the direction he thought he heard the noise come from; it could be nothing, but it could be something. He walked around for two minutes to look for whatever the source was that made the noise and hoped that it was not a trap, so his head turned to look at the sleeping Shinigami to see that they were safe and sound, and this allowed him to lower his guard a little and sigh again in frustration. All of the silence made him stay still and stare up at the forest skies while thinking about the reason they were all there searching for a man that may or may not be alive, and he could not help but speak out quietly to himself so that he could have some sort of closure, if only for the moment.

"Damn you Kurosaki," Toushirou whispered in annoyance, "making others worry, and making me... somehow worry." His eyes closed and dipped his head down, "I didn't mean for you to disappear, not like this at least..." He opened his eyes and was stunned when seeing a little Hollow standing in front of him and he grabbed his Zanpakutou, _'damn, Abarai said more come if we kill __**one**__.'_

The little Hollow had hurriedly fled when Toushirou grasped the hilt of Hyourinmaru and hid behind a tree to peep over to look at him to see that he had yet released the blade, so it slowly came scurrying to the captain until they were two feet away, and gently took hold of his white haori to tug on it. Toushirou backed up confusedly and scowled at the little creature that immediately began to flee, but then it turned around to see that the captain did not go after it, so it came over to him once more and nervously tugged on his haori again in hopes of him following the little Hollow forth. He believed that this was a trap for him to be ambushed by other Hollow and Menos, but there was something very odd about this Hollow—as if it was a _good_ Hollow because of its innocent little act, and then walked cautiously as it wanted while keeping a firm grip on the hilt of his Zanpakutou. Once passing a couple more trees, he completely regretted coming when seeing ten Gillian staring at him and were about to use cero against him and so he pulled out his Zanpakutou to defend himself, and the little Hollow screeched with fear of being attacked—then something surprising happened. A high pitch whistle was heard that stopped the Gillian from using cero and return to the darkness of the forest, and the little Hollow perked after the whistle and hissed at the tall black figures that left which confused the captain who was waiting for them to return for a real ambush. It returned to the white-haired captain and attempted to tug on his haori as it had been for the past ten minutes, but the captain backed away from it angrily because of the trap he was just set up for, but the knee-high Hollow tilted its masked head and began to speak as if it was a child.

"Tou...shi...rou...?" The little Hollow spoke. "No trap," it stated, "must meet."

One of his eyebrows rose with interest, "how do you know my name, and who or what is it that I must meet?"  
"Come, come," it scurried forth and waited twenty feet in front of him, "you safe, you protected."  
"I want answers, Hollow." Toushirou scowled and followed the little creature.  
"He tells you," it replied and continued, "he drove Gillian away."  
_'Kurosaki Ichigo...'_ he thought instantly and he followed.

After three minutes off walking, the little Hollow ran off by itself and Toushirou was left stranded in the darkness of the forest before feeling a shadow over him, so he turned around quickly and saw that no one was there—now he was starting to believe that this was really just a trap to be ambushed. A hand was placed against one of his shoulders that caused him to freeze at the dark feeling behind him and then quickly grabbed the hilt of his zanpakutou, but another hand came and grabbed his hand as if the creature behind him already knew what Toushirou was thinking. Then it slowly dawned on to him that he could not feel any reiatsu off this creature and had a sinking gut instinct that told him that it was Kurosaki Ichigo that it made him loosen a little, and then the hand on his shoulder came up and softly rustled the little captain's head and in a familiar pattern.

"You should know better than to leave your comrades alone." The voice stated, and it was truly Ichigo.  
Toushirou snorted so that he could hide his relief, "Abarai was right, you really _**are**_ alive."  
"You said to disappear, you didn't tell me to die." He chuckled softly at him.  
"I would never ask for a death of someone I knew, Kurosaki." The captain turned—  
"Err, don't." Ichigo kept him firmly in place with his hands. "I'm not really myself right now."

"Our orders are to bring you back to Soul Society, dead or alive." Toushirou released the hilt of his zanpakutou casually and so Ichigo removed his grasp on his form. Therefore, he turned around to look at him, but Ichigo vanished with a flash step, "Kurosaki?" He sighed and began to turn his head until a hand covered his eyesight in an instant, and was thrown into a tree, "w-what the..."

"I said that I wasn't myself right now Toushirou," Ichigo stated, "my Hollow instincts want to increase in this place."  
"I've seen you with your mask before Kurosaki, now remove your hand." The captain bristled angrily for being touched.  
He sighed quietly in frustration, and his grip loosened over Toushirou's face."I'm not wearing my mask..."  
"Then stop acting like a worried old woman," his hand slapped his off his face, and stared in shock.

Ichigo's usual brown caring eyes were drawn to powerful golden orbs that screamed with the desire to kill with white surroundings that went black, and it was almost like he was slowly being drawn to his Hollow nature in this place, but Toushirou was not going to be a coward and leave after being startled. It seemed that the substitute Shinigami sensed the unease coming from the little captain and turned around so that he could leave the perimeter before somehow managing to scare the icy captain, which seemed rather unlikely no matter how it was thought about, but who knows? Toushirou became angry once noticing that the orange-haired man was about to flee the scene and went forth to grab and jerk his shoulder to have him turn around to look at him, but there were no movements to have him do such thing, and so the small one had to think of something to say to him.

"Why aren't you seeing Abarai instead of me?" Toushirou was curiously. "He's the one you love, isn't it?"  
"He's not the one talking to me as if I were right in front of him." He mused quietly for the moment.  
His cheeks tinted lightly in embarrassment for being caught doing that, "mind your own business."

"Back when you told me to disappear, I knew that you just wanted me to leave Soul Society, if not your office." Ichigo sighed softly. "But the truth is that it gave a little closure to coming here by 'disappearing,' and so the old man made that happen." His head dipped softly, "I shouldn't have come to you though, and I'm sure your building with questions with each passing second."

"All I want to know is," he paused to look at him, "how you can mask your reiatsu even at this range, why couldn't you tell someone the truth when you told me to share my own truth, and also... why won't you return with us? Abarai is... lonely without you."

"Meaning that you want me back in that world, oh boy..." he scratched his head and spoke before Toushirou could misunderstand, "I know that Renji is a little upset about me not being there, but there's no way he would let anyone know if he was 'lonely' or not, he's just as strong as you and me." Ichigo lightly turned to him. "I learned some new abilities that I've adapted to in order to survive. I couldn't tell you or anyone else about me being here because it was forbidden, but afterwards, I'll tell you everything."

_Afterwards..._

"Then, you're going to return to Soul Society eventually?" Toushirou questioned, accidentally allowing his hope to be recognized.  
He looked to the ground and repeated. "Eventually..." his hand went to his zanpakutou, "you should leave now."  
"My orders are to take you back, dead or alive." The captain stated. "I'll use force if necessary."  
"Or I will." A voice called out, and he turned to see Renji. "You're coming back with us."  
"You know I wouldn't have abandoned you guys if it wasn't important, Renji." Ichigo stated.

"Why did soutaichou send you here? How long do you plan on staying?" The red-haired lieutenant scowled.  
"As however long it takes," he closed his eyes before turning to Renji, "and you know I can't tell you."  
Renji growled and jumped forth to attack him with his zanpakutou. "Stop acting like this isn't killing you!"  
Listening and feeling the air, Ichigo dodged and grabbed Zabimaru, "is that what you want to hear from me?"  
He flinched when hearing this question, "I want to hear what you have to say," he demanded.

"I'm sorry that I've hurt you, Renji, Toushirou. I should've said something from the start, even if it was forbidden." Ichigo released the zanpakutou. "Gramps requested something that I had decided to turn down immediately, and then I realized that he was right, and so I took on his request and was thrown away." He sighed. "I'm not ready to go back, and if you both force me to leave, then my reason of coming here was pointless. But—" Renji slammed him against a tree angrily, "I know that you're upset."

"Why aren't you looking me in the eye to tell me this?" The lieutenant asked sternly.  
"I'm ashamed of myself for leaving." He replied bluntly, still keeping his eyes closed.  
Renji knew it was a lie, "it's your Hollow isn't it? You've been here too long Ichigo."  
His eyes opened slowly so he could barely look at him, "don't worry about it."

Toushirou continued to watch them push and pull at one another while Renji was slowly starting to crack on the ground of their relationship that they must have never come across and Ichigo was doing his best to keep him calm and collected without trying to have him worry about his person. His eyes shifted away when Renji brought a hand up and caressed Ichigo's cheek in order to receive some sort of familiar response so that he would know that this was not a trick or illusion, and so Ichigo responded by bringing a hand to the redhead's nape to grasp his hair and kiss him. He felt uncomfortable being near two men that were kissing each other in such a manner, but it probably would not bother him so much if he had perhaps been in some sort of similar situation where he would fall for someone enough to show them any emotion, but he looked at Ichigo. The little captain saw that he was not giving any real emotion towards the kiss while Renji was more than just into it, and so Toushirou placed a hand to his lips to cough so they would stop assaulting each other and then crossed his arms while waiting for them to stop their actions, which they did.

Ichigo immediately released the man in front of him and began stalking forth around him with a hand on his zanpakutou cautiously, "there's going to be another fight against the Hollow, you better get back to your campsite, you guys are safest there."  
Toushirou looked at him a little suspiciously and asked out. "How do you know that there's Hollow out there fighting?" Then he had an idea of how and asked. "Can you possibly be tapping more into your Hollow power? Isn't there a possibility that it'd kill you?"  
"It's possible." His head turned when sensing that the Gillian were starting to pull forth in determination to attack a group of sleeping Shinigami that were taking a break. "Damn those things." He started to run in a different direction but was stopped.  
"What the hell is going on, you're acting off right now, is something happening to the others that you're not telling us about?" Renji asked sternly, causing a stare down between himself and the orange-haired Shinigami representative.

Ichigo did not know how to respond to him so he grasped his zanpakutou even tighter before thrusting it into the ground and gave his hands to Renji, "cut me with Zabimaru," he demanded, "on the palm of my hands Renji, cut me." Renji stared at his hands with the look of uncertainty and defiance; he did not want to listen to the man in front of him. "Do it Renji, or I'll ask Toushirou." However, Renji turned his head away because it was not something for him to do, and so he turned to Toushirou, "Toushirou—no, Hitsugaya taichou, can you do me this favor? It isn't safe for you guys to be here, the forest is just waiting to engulf everyone." Even Toushirou turned his head away at the completely odd demand, and so Ichigo sighed and asked him softly. "I'm sorry Toushirou, but please..."

The little captain cringed as he pulled out his zanpakutou against and pointed it at the psychotic orange-haired man whom grasped it with his two hands, and then as quickly and painlessly as possible, the little one pulled back the zanpakutou away from the man and it tore the flesh of his palms. Ichigo gritted his teeth and absorbed all of the pain as he turned to his zanpakutou and grasped it as he would when he would fight off others and then made sure that the wraps were bloody, and then angrily threw the zanpakutou at Renji's feet before starting to walk off into the darkness of the forest. It was opposed to by the red-haired lieutenant who rushed over to Ichigo's side to stop him from leaving, but the Shinigami representative scowled and turned around to kick the other man away from him angrily, sending him flying twenty feet away from him and back next to Zangetsu.

"Damn it you idiot, take my zanpakutou to that old man and tell him that I fought to death trying to stay alive and I was devoured!" Ichigo yelled angrily. "The farther I'm away from Zangetsu right now, just might be the best." He then repeated himself to both of them. "Give the zanpakutou to the old man and say that I was devoured, I can't watch anymore Shinigami being sacrificed."

"Taking your zanpakutou away from you is the same as taking away a part of your soul." Toushirou stated in annoyance.  
"Which means that if I _really_ need it, I can summon it, understand?" He sighed and looked at them pleadingly. "Please..."  
"Doesn't mean that you have to kick me..." Renji grumbled in annoyance while getting himself up. "You always kick me too."  
"What do you think others would think if you had my blood on you?" There was a screech in the distance, and then he looked at Toushirou, "you're a taichou, so I'm sure you'll listen." He glanced at the zanpakutou and back at him. "Take it, and get out of here."  
"What makes you believe that I will _listen_ to you, Kurosaki? You're not my superior." The little captain retorted with a scowl.  
"Because I'm not taking it," Ichigo bowed his head. "Rukia is snooping around and is coming this away. Goodbye." He vanished.

"Kurosaki!" Toushirou called out with a hand extended to the disappeared man.

How was it that, this white-haired captain was reaching out to someone—to stop them from doing something that he could not agree with, how was it that he could yell with panic of disclosure when the man disappeared in front of him, and how could he manage to react to this when the lieutenant did not? He then loosened up and looked at the palm of his hand before making a fist with his hand to curse at his childish behavior and placed his hand to the side, and then glanced slowly at the bloody, abandoned, zanpakutou that had taken down captains and lieutenants alike; how could something like this be thrown away like garbage? Renji frowned with disapproval of the other man leaving as well and picked it up the abandoned piece of Ichigo's soul—only to realize just how heavy the zanpakutou was and found out that he had to drag it to the campsite by the white slips that would normally cover the blade.

The lieutenant looked to Toushirou, "Hitsugaya taichou, we should listen to Ichigo."  
"I will not listen to someone who would so easily leave his zanpakutou." He replied coldly.

"Ichigo told me that you would've cast away Hyourinmaru at one point..." Renji started out as he stared at the ground, "he never told me why that was, but, maybe he could be in the same situation—or perhaps something similar." He began walking off, dragging along the large zanpakutou over his shoulder. "I trust him and his decision no matter how selfish it is, but what about you?" His head turned over his shoulder to glance back at the little captain while still walking. "Do you trust him, after everything that happened?"

Toushirou looked at him stoically so he would not be read, _'he was the one who taught me not to fight things alone, but he is also one that I can somewhat proudly call him an ally—a friend.'_ He sighed and started to walk. _'I have no choice to put my trust into his decisions and believe in him.'_ Then he passed the lieutenant and stated. "You best hope that he knows what he's doing."

"Normally he figures out things on his own." Renji mumbled out, mainly to himself.  
The captain nodded lightly in agreement, "then about what he had said to us."  
"About which part," he started curiously, "the part about the yelling?"  
"Kurosaki said to say that he was dead, didn't he?" Toushirou questioned.  
"Well, yeah, but what about it?" The lieutenant asked confusedly.

"It would be best to believe that he _is _dead."

* * *

"Renji, where have you been!" Rukia practically yelled in annoyance.

Both the red-haired lieutenant and white-haired captain continued walking to the campsite in silence with their heads dipped down as if to express that they either did not want to talk about it, or that they were not happy about what had happened before they had come to this place. Rukia gasped and gazed in disbelief when the taller one dropped a bloody zanpakutou that she had known all too well when the orange-haired man had come to rescue her so long ago, and she became angry when she did not see the owner of the zanpakutou anywhere near the campsite. Repeatedly, she looked at the lieutenant to the captain in hopes of having some sort of answer to why it was that there was only a zanpakutou and no owner to it, but neither of them lifted their heads to tell her the news of how Kurosaki Ichigo was dead because they did not want to lie to her. The look in their eyes made her very upset and so she turned her hands into fists and hit Renji against the chest to vent her pain and anger when she believed that one of her best friends was now dead when she had high hopes of him still being alive once she had found out he was here. Turquoise orbs lifted to watch as Renji embraced the upset Shinigami and listened to his apologies to her as he repeated them, and everyone stirred awake at the campsite to see the zanpakutou that had no wielder for it, causing them to be angry and confused for their loss of a friend.

"We couldn't save him in time, I'm sorry," Renji whispered quietly to the upset friends of his.  
Ikkaku eyed the two superiors, _'they don't even have a scratch on them, they didn't fight...'  
'If Ichigo really died, then they didn't bother to try and help him.'_ Yumichika scowled lightly.  
"Taichou," Rangiku started quietly, "what exactly happened out there? Why didn't you get us?"

Toushirou looked at his lieutenant before glancing at the ground to think about the situation and sighed in annoyance, "it doesn't matter now. With us unable to obtain his form, we have to return to Soul Society and give my report of what I saw."

"Tch," Ikkaku got up from the ground he had slept on and pulled out his zanpakutou, "so what really happened with Ichigo?"  
Yumichika did the same as Ikkaku and pulled his zanpakutou out, "I doubt that Abarai fukutaichou would idly watch his lover _**die**_."  
"You mean Ichigo is alive?" Rukia asked in surprise and turned to look at the red-haired lieutenant to know the truth.  
"I—" Renji did not know what in the world he should say to them because he did not want to lie to them. "That is to say—"  
"You're right," Toushirou spoke out and pulled his zanpakutou out, "I killed Kurosaki myself; he was turning into a Hollow."

This statement was far more convincing than the one that they started out with, but it made the others even more angry with the two that returned to the campsite, and Rukia wanted to hit the captain so badly, and she attempted to as she shoved away from Renji and raised a hand to slap the captain. A large screech echoed through the forest as if a Hollow crying in pain, and suddenly a huge wave of cero blasted through the night—grazing their campsite by a thread, which caused the Shinigami to realize that there were over a dozen of the Gillian watching them before they were destroyed. Toushirou and Renji shared a quick glance with one another and both had nodded in agreement that Ichigo was the one who used cero in order to protect them, and they should honor his daring guardianship by quickly leaving the Forest of Menos before they were all killed. The order of immediate evacuation was sent out through the Forest and the desert above to return to Soul Society, and they all did their best to leave within the hour as the waves of cero became powerful with each blow; it was obvious that just one hit could kill hundreds of Shinigami, even if skilled. So as they were all leaving the dangers of Hueco Mundo, it allowed piercing golden orbs to watch their departure—watching intently to make sure that they were all leaving without leaving someone behind, so the growls and snarls echoed behind the mask very loudly.

* * *

Toushirou held out the Zanpakutou in front of the Commanding-General, setting it on desk that belongs to the captain's superior, "Kurosaki was taken by the Hollow of Hueco Mundo by the time we had arrived sir, my apologies for not finding him in time."

The elder gazed at him with the usual unreadable expression before inhale air and exhaling in a long irritated manner of being let down by the small captain, but there was nothing that could be done about it when Ichigo's body no longer around, so he closed his eyes and bowed his head to him. This made the white-haired captain ponder at the old man's thoughts about believing him or not and could only hope that he would accept the story rather than check it out, but the elder stood up and took the zanpakutou before walking away to place it on an empty shelf in view. That act alone had baffled the tenth squad captain, but the elder had eventually returned to the desk and sat down so that they could continue their conversation while the lieutenant of the Commanding-General stood idly in case he was needed in order to do any task given to him.

"It would appear that Kurosaki Ichigo is not ready to return to us." Shigekuni spoke to the lieutenant.  
Choujirou nodded his head, "sir, perhaps two months was not enough. Do you want me to find him?"  
"That is not necessary," he replied gruffly while in thought, "but I am surprised in you, Hitsugaya taichou."  
_'How does he know that Kurosaki is alive?'_ Toushirou tried not to sense, "surprised, sir?"  
His head shook, "it does not matter anymore... you are dismissed. Thank you for the report."  
"Yes sir," the small one bowed and turned away to leave, _'what is he __**surprised **__about?'_

Despite the desire of figuring out what it was that the old Commanding-General was talking about, he had no time to dwell on it because he had reports to do before retiring tonight, but after he left the office to step out, he stared at the night sky and wondered if his lying to a superior was the right thing. The question of _why_ had he lied on Ichigo's behalf still baffled him; was it because he was glad the man was not dead when he had told him to disappear, or was it because the fool was actually starting to get to him and have him become a little softer towards him—pfft. His turquoise orbs rolled at the latter thought that bothered to cross his mind, why would he mysteriously become soft because he admitted to himself earlier that the man was someone he could believe in, just the thought of it made him mentally frown in utter confusion. Memories of hours ago quickly flooded his head; his plea towards Ichigo in the forest, seeing Ichigo again, talking to Ichigo again, being touched by him again—his mind shook when he was aiming towards the five sense when seeing that man and shivered with disgust to it. He would not allow himself to think this way of another man, and especially another man that so happened to be taken by someone else; his head shook as he walked to the administration office as he wondered how stupid he was becoming in order to think like that, but then a thought came to him.

_'Why did Kurosaki apologize when he wanted me to cut his hands?'_ Toushirou asked himself.

* * *

**IMPORTANT:** Okay, so you can't really expect me to update any time soon. I am moving in 20 days, 1300 miles (2093 kilometers) away from where I'm currently living. It'll be a while for me to get back on my game!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 03

Inescapable

- Now –

Danger stalked Soul Society, hiding within the Rukongai somewhere while watching for an opportunity to enter the walls of Seireitei to unravel its terrifying wrath against the Shinigami inside, the desire of causing panic and mayhem as it was once told to do two very long years ago. Piercing golden hue orbs glowed through the night as it crept along the walls for a simple solution to enter the fortress without so much of a peep, claws dug silently through the dirt, as it preferred to walk on all four rather that bearing weight on the hind legs, and a tail swayed powerfully with temptation of striking. How rude the foul creature might be if it were to disturb the Shinigami whilst they slept, but was that not what a demon was to do; were they not supposed to wreak havoc on less unfortunate souls that should be taught to stay on their toes even through their peaceful slumber? Everything was complete and in motion for the demon to enter Seireitei, now the only was how to enter it without causing any trouble—simple; there was no such way, for once it entered, alarms would be sounded and everyone would be after it to either kill or retrieve. Glowing eyes searched the area one last time before deciding that now was as good of a time as ever and blasted an enormous was of cero at the walls, alarms were immediately sounded off and squads began to stir awake while night patrol Shinigami were rushing towards the scene. Several called for the gates to be lifted so that they could communicate with the stranger to see who would dare strike the walls that would protect Seireitei, and all of them froze in fear at the horrifying creature that now stood before them after the gate opened for it.

"Thanks for opening the door." The beast's voice echoed, and vanished.

"H-H-Hollow!" The frightened Shinigami yelled.  
"Hollow at the North Gate!" Another called.  
"A Hollow at the—" the next could not finish.

The Hollow struck all Shinigami at the scene with a mere claw for bothering to speak its location, and it again vanished from the Northern Gate to appear on top of a shop in Seireitei, so it gazed around stoically while a grin hid beneath the mask while a huge reiatsu came rushing forth. A heavy explosion attacked the shop that the Hollow was on that made it jump into the air and search for the one that caused this to happen, and a large captain appeared behind the Hollow while laughing maniacally when finding out that this would be a good match indeed. It seemed that the Hollow had no interest in Kenpachi Zaraki however, and merely threw the large captain down with the strength of its tail and vanished to a new location while low ranked officers helped the now unconscious captain, and then beautiful pink petals fluttered through the air. Before thousands of the miniature blades attacked the Hollow, it had disappeared and attacked the wielder of the pink petals head-on by clawing at his chest—throwing the sixth squad captain ten miles out before crashing into a large building within the walls of Seireitei. How it pained the beast to strike two captains so quickly without giving them a proper greeting, but there was nothing that could be done by it when it was obvious that they wanted to kill it, and just as the beast turned to leave, there was an ambush of the second squad captain's Stealth Force, causing it to hiss. Nevertheless, it was actually quite surprising that so many of them were up and about already to come and attack, it was probably three in the morning for them or something; who knew how time worked within Soul Society, perhaps those whom live within the world.

"Everyone, attack!" Soi Fon yelled, pointing at the Hollow.

It rose to its hind legs and brought up a clawed finger to summon another powerful wave of cero that had all Shinigami fleeing a couple of yards away before they could be killed, and so Soi Fon jumped into action by attacking it head on, so it ceased off cero and vanished from her sight. The Hollow merely used speed to leave the area and appear near the Southern Gate where there was much less commotion, and waited patiently for the Hell Butterflies to be sent out to the captains that were available, and then something caught the Hollow's attention. A red-haired man was holding hands with a raven-haired woman's, and snarls echoed behind the mask as it came towards them in a flash which caused them to jump back in surprise, it the stood tall on its hind legs as it bore golden orbs towards the eyes of the redhead's. Renji threw Rukia behind him so that he could grasp his zanpakutou at his side—and then that Hollow placed a clawed hand against the skin of his cheek, but instead of feeling a gentle caress from them, it was painful scratches from each claw that spilt Renji's blood. Rukia would not stand for this and brought out her own zanpakutou to attack the Hollow, and the blade was broken in two before she could call out the name of her zanpakutou, now the two Shinigami were in deep trouble... but she watched as Renji placed a hand on the Hollow's mask. Both Shinigami noticed that the mask was a little familiar to them though it took a couple of minutes due to the beast looking like a full-fledged Hollow, and then it finally came to their senses that this was no ordinary Hollow, but their long lost friend that was said to have died two long years ago.

"Ichigo," Renji started, "I—" Before he could say another word, the Hollow punched him in the face and sent him flying backwards.  
"Oh no—Renji—" Rukia was interrupted as well by being punched in the stomach and spewed before falling to the ground out cold.  
The Hollow raised its head when the sounds of the Hell Butterfly were sent loose, _'it is about time,'_ the thoughts echoed.

Before either of the Shinigami could wake and rise to fight again, the Hollow disappeared from the location and appeared at the center of Seireitei where the execution grounds were, gazing at the familiar grounds where this had come forth to it, and so it left the scene by walking towards the meeting chamber. All that jumped in the way of the occupied beast was swiped to the side with the powerful tail attached to it while continuing towards the meeting where all the captains were, but dozens of guards then entered the hallway simultaneously and were all about to attack the beast. Lieutenant Sasakibe Choujirou used flash step to interfere with their attacks and sent them on their way before turning around and bowing respectfully towards the Hollow, and silently led it towards the meeting room where all of the present captains stood waiting at their positions. Two of the captains were wounded and dirtied due to the attacks from the Hollow, one was ill but still showed, then the rest were confused right now except for Soi Fon who was angry that the beast had slipped from her grasp so easily, and the doors were opened to the monster.

"Soutaichou, allow me to finish off this Hollow." Soi Fon went into a ready position.  
"Keh, this guy is mine to kill for knocking me down earlier," Kenpachi stated with chuckles.  
"Nonsense, allow me to run tests on it, I've never seen this type before." Mayuri demanded.  
"I see that you are alive and well." The Commanding-General stated calmly, and the Hollow nodded.

Suddenly, Renji had burst through the doors, "please wait soutaichou!" He came over to the Hollow and stood before it. "This thing isn't a normal Hollow, I swear!" His arms spread out widely to protect the foul creature behind him. "This is a Shinigami we all know!" Just then, the lieutenant was grabbed by the nape and thrown aside without care before walking forth. "W-wait..." He spoke weakly.

All captains stared at the fallen lieutenant with questions of why he defended the Hollow, even after the Hollow grabbed him by his neck and threw him to the side, why was it that the Hollow was trying to commit suicide by entering a room with all of the captains in it? It stalked forth towards the Commanding-General and everyone watched as the creature flexed those long sharp claws with its tail swaying more rapidly than when it hit the Shinigami down earlier, the captains wondered if the Hollow would be so foolish as to attack their superior head-on. After a seven minutes of staring down between the Commanding-General and the Hollow, the masked beast stood tall in silence while its tail laid to a halt, and it reluctantly went down into submission by crouching like a four legged pet that was told to sit down by its Master...

"I am aware of who and what this creature is," the Commanding-General stated, "I had requested his appearance years ago." His eyes opened to look at the Hollow. "But it seems that you took much more time than expected. Call upon your zanpakutou now."

A clawed hand extended out, and the Hollow's voice echoed, "Zangetsu."

In a split of a second, that all too familiar zanpakutou of the fallen substitute Shinigami came into the Hollow's possession, and it was held on tightly by the Hollow who then stood up with silence as its form began to crack, it looked like a shell that was breaking due to grasping this item. Soon, the Hollow called forth its bankai and the shell shattered instantly to reveal an orange-haired man that was known to be dead for two years, and everyone became a little more relaxed when seeing the true identity of the fearsome monster, but they were worried of why the transformation happened. Out of all of them, Toushirou was the only one that would not look up to the orange-haired man that returned because of remembering just the night before when he had the urge to ask the sky to return this man to Soul Society or the Human World, whichever they would be satisfied with.

"I apologize for being late." Ichigo spoke; his voice was calm but serious, "I completed my training."  
"Very good," the Commanding-General replied, "will you care to demonstrate you're training?"  
"I would rather not." He bowed. "I did as you requested, and now I'm leaving, goodbye."

"Kurosaki Ichigo." Shigekuni called out, stomping his staff against the ground. "Everyone else may be dismissed." As everyone began to leave the room, he added at a late notice, "Hitsugaya taichou, please stay behind for a moment as well."  
The little white-haired captain turned to look at the Commanding-General stoically as he stopped in place, "yes sir..." Toushirou came over to stand a couple feet behind the substitute Shinigami to be talked with afterwards, and everyone left the room.  
"I can see that surviving on your own in Hueco Mundo has changed you in more than one way." The elder spoke with a scolding tone to the orange-haired man. "You have indeed become stronger, and yet it seems you will be more defiant than ever."  
_'This entire thing was planned from the start?'_ Toushirou looked upwards at the man, watching his expression intently as he did not falter for any reason. _'Kurosaki Ichigo was thrown into Hueco Mundo in order to become less immature or something most likely.'_

"My answer still stands, Gramps." Ichigo turned around and started to leave. "I will not become a taichou."

"Kurosaki Ichigo!" The Commanding-General bellowed furiously. "You will not ignore the fact that you are a threat to Earth now."  
"My mission is to protect my friends, not to serve as a taichou for Soul Society." He added angrily, "it is not my place."  
"It was not your father's place either, but he had done a fair job as a taichou." The elder stated gruffly. "Soul Society needs you."  
"That's why you had me keep secrets about it, so why is it that you are letting Toushirou know this information?"  
"You had him cover for you after two months," the elder stated, "so I think that it would be more appropriate for you to stay at his lodge for the night, and then you may go back to the human world tomorrow afternoon. It seems that you and Abarai fukutaichou—"  
"Understood." Ichigo hissed and began walking out and stopped at the doors while tensing as he gritted, "please excuse me."

After the man left, Toushirou looked to the Commanding-General, "sir, why should he stay at my lodge for the night?"  
"Isolation for two years may have weakened him as well as strengthened him." Shigekuni stated calmly to him.  
"That doesn't really give a valid explanation of why I should do this and not Abarai." He hinted.  
"Abarai fukutaichou is seeing Kuchiki Rukia. The betrayal may end in blood and tears."  
_'What, Abarai said that he was a homosexual, not a bisexual. Damn these Shinigami.'_

Toushirou bowed his head and left the room to see that Ichigo was down the hallway while rubbing his forehead for some reason, and so the small one came over to find out what was going on, and Ichigo tensed at the presence next to him, but he turned to look at the captain. He nodded his head to continue down the hallway and started to walk off in order to have the obviously annoyed orange-haired substitute Shinigami follow him, much to his dismay though, the man did not follow him as he had wanted, and so the captain turned to glare at the distracted Shinigami. Ichigo reverted out of his bankai stage and back to his normal attire with his zanpakutou turning back into the shikai form, and then suddenly Renji came over to him in hopes of explaining himself to the one he expected to be completely furious with him, but there was no hope.

"You'd be better off staying out of my face." Ichigo scowled. "I might kill you otherwise."  
"Ichigo, you were gone for two _**years**_ without any information—I thought you were—"  
"Dead?" He mused at the lieutenant. "Good, now get going, Rukia will worry about you."  
Renji angrily grabbed Ichigo's clothing, "it ain't like that! She's been keeping me company!"  
The substitute grabbed him by the neck, tightly, "well now you can sleep with her all you want."

"Kurosaki, release him! He is a fukutaichou of the sixth squad." Toushirou demanded instantly at the grasp.  
Renji tried to speak out, but the hold on his throat tightened too badly to make even a small peep, "...!"  
"Fine," Ichigo threw Renji to the side and began to walk off, "I won't burden you by staying at your lodge."  
"Shut up, I told that old codger that I would let you." Toushirou announced, and then glanced at the lieutenant.  
"All I'm going to do is ask for a check up and go find a tree to sleep in," he attempted to smile, "don't worry about it."  
"Then why do you keep rubbing your face? Sleep now and get checked on later." The captain offered.

"Being in a dark forest for two years... my eyes can't adjust to the sunlight quickly." Ichigo answered. "Excuse me."

The substitute Shinigami began walking off to the fourth division so that he could asked to be checked up on, and because the little captain felt that he was somehow responsible for the wellbeing of the man, he decided that it was best to follow him; besides, he had to bring in the unconscious Renji. After handing the redhead over to the lieutenant of the fourth squad, Toushirou went to check up on the substitute to make sure that things were going well, and one way or another his large breasted lieutenant found out that he was here and wanted to see what was going on. Once Unohana Retsu requested for Ichigo to remove his upper clothes, they all saw the horrid gashes and burns plastered on his body alongside terrible scars, and yet... there was not one cry of pain as she touched each wound to check on how bad each of them were. Perhaps five other Shinigami, other than Toushirou and his lieutenant of course, were watching in a separate room because they caught glimpse of all the wounds that he had, and everyone wondered why he would not make a sound when his body would occasionally twitch in pain. As the female captain was about to place a hand that glowed green against his back, Ichigo used his flash steps instantly to avoid being touched and grabbed his clothes to place on while saying that it was good enough, so he clothed himself quickly and hurried out of the fourth division as everyone stared.

"Kurosaki Ichigo must have felt threatened at that moment." Retsu suggested quietly next to Toushirou.  
Matsumoto Rangiku looked at the older woman, "eh? Why in the world would Ichigo feel threatened?"  
"He has been fighting for two years to survive." She replied. "It would not be a surprise if it left scars."  
"Either way, I better make sure the idiot doesn't do anything foolish." Toushirou sighed and took a step—  
"I'll go follow him taichou, I want to talk to him for a bit." His lieutenant smiled happily at him.  
"I'm sorry Matsumoto fukutaichou; I think it would be best if Hitsugaya taichou followed him." Retsu stated.  
"Eh? Why is that, it's not like he would attack me or something." She frowned unhappily at the disagreement.

"I believe it is more likely that he will attack anyone," the female captain stated. "He was trying his best not to attack me as I inspected his body." She tried to explain, "I believe he knows between friend and foe, but being alone has made him more wary about his surroundings, and more of a person who fights the instant a target is given to him." Retsu dipped her head sadly at this.

_'That old codger tried to make him a killer...'_ Toushirou thought.

* * *

It seemed like two years ago it was easier than Hell to find Kurosaki Ichigo because he was so lousy at controlling his enormous reiatsu, but now he was so skillful at it that there was no way in Heaven he could be tracked down like any other Shinigami could be nowadays; that man had changed. Somehow every stop and turn were told by complete instincts to find this man, and so Toushirou continued on with these so that he could tell the fool to go to the lodge and fall asleep, but this was taking a lot of time for some reason and he had a lot of reports to get to very soon. After forty minutes of searching for him, turquoise pools gazed up upon a man lying down in a tree so lazily that it made the little captain sigh in a bit of annoyance, and so he tried to figure out a way to get this man down without having him assume that he was some sort of threat.

"So how did you find me?" Ichigo asked with his eyes closed.

Though the words snapped him out of his thoughts, the captain replied, "one only needs instincts to find you, Kurosaki."  
"I hope not." He sighed and shifted on his side tiredly. "That excuse came from only Renji after we were together."  
Toushirou bristled in disgust at this, "either way, get down here Kurosaki, you're not a wild man, you're a Shinigami."  
"A wild man," his tongue rolled out the distasteful words and hopped down, "fine, what do you want Toushirou?"

"First of all, it's Hitsugaya taichou. Stop having me to repeat myself after all this time." Toushirou scolded the man as if he were a child, and then he saw that uncaring look in Ichigo's eyes, he stopped scolding and added. "You said that you were going to rest after you were checked on, so follow me and I'll take you to my lodge. At _least_, you'll be out of the rays of the sunlight, right?"

"There are reasons why I'm avoiding your lodge Toushirou." Ichigo stated calmly.  
"A friend once told me to share my pain. How about sharing yours?" He asked stoically.  
"I have no pain, just anger." The man replied. "I come back to find Renji with Rukia."  
His mind had to think, _'perhaps he survived the two years to come see Abarai again?'_

"The reason why I don't want to go to your lodge is because I might attack you." Ichigo admitted. "I've been quick to kill because of my time in Hueco Mundo, and so I had to learn quickly in order to come back alive for everyone." He sighed and rubbed his neck. "I thought that Renji would be thrilled to see me back, but I can see in his eyes that he wants Rukia more than he wants me."

"I can protect myself from you easily, that I'm sure of." Toushirou crossed his arms. "If you sleep out here, you'll be pestered."  
"It seems you really want me to sleep at your lodge, you're rarely this determined if I remember right." He yawned tiredly.  
"I'm not _determined_ to have you sleep there, but the order was from soutaichou, so there's no other way around it."  
"Still the uptight brat I remember." The man stretched and cracked a few stiff bones. "Alright, I'll bite. Let's go then."

Toushirou started to walk off in the direction of the lodges and stopped to make sure that the orange-haired man was following him, which he slowly was, and so he continued towards the lodges with thoughts of the man that was behind him, but he had a feeling that he was not following him anymore. He turned around to look at the substitute Shinigami, only to see that Ichigo had stopped walking and was looking around for something, this really confused the small captain because there was nothing around to be worried about—but then suddenly the alarms went off. His attention went looking around their surroundings when the Commanding-General said that there was a cloaked Hollow had killed three Shinigami, and he watched Ichigo jump up on a building top, which made no sense whatsoever for the white-haired boy that was getting annoyed. The captain widened his eyes when Ichigo vanished so quickly and appear right at his side with his zanpakutou in hand—stabbing the air next to him, and suddenly the reiatsu of the Hollow became acknowledged just as the cloak on the Hollow wavered on when it collapsed onto the ground.

"Shame, I liked that Hollow, too bad he was about to kill you." Ichigo snorted, and then looked at Toushirou. "Are you alright?"  
"How did you sense that Hollow when even I couldn't sense it?" The little captain scowled in annoyance, then thought about it, "y—"  
"It doesn't matter." He answered defensively. "We were going to your lodge right? Mind if we hurry up, the sun is rising."  
An eyebrow rose at the attitude of the taller one and watched walk forth, "you can detect Hollow with your inner Hollow..."

"I can detect them, I can summon them," the orange-haired substitute Shinigami turned to him, "I can control them. Can we go?"

Eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the tone that he as receiving from him, but Toushirou decided to not get involved and merely show the way to his lodge while the substitute Shinigami followed in silence, so they took flash steps to speed it up a little more for the both of them. Somehow, it turned out that Ichigo beat Toushirou to the lodge, and this really confused the little captain even though he did not want to admit in any manner, so the little one sighed lightly and opened the sliding door for the orange-haired man and allowed him to enter first. Brown orbs searched cautiously through the entrance as if something might jump out at him, and his ears twitched ever so slightly when the wooden floor creaked beneath his feet; Toushirou could understand that this man would be quite edgy for a while until he adjusts to being around allies.

"You need sleep, so you can use my futon. Don't make a mess or I'll kill you." Toushirou then closed the door and left.

* * *

"Aw, come on taichou, I want to say 'hi' to Ichigo, I missed him and you lied to us." Rangiku frowned as she followed the boy.  
Her superior sighed, "and what if he attacks because he thinks you're a Hollow before figuring out who you are?"  
"Wow, you really don't trust him anymore, do you taichou?" The large breasted woman frowned. "Ichigo's our friend."  
"I'm not saying that he is or isn't, what I **am** saying is that he's different—sharper and less rowdy." He scowled.  
"In the living world he's seventeen years-old, I believe that might be adult age in his world, or maybe that puberty p—"  
"Matsumoto," Toushirou bellowed in order to contain his yelling. "I can't say that Hueco Mundo changed him for the best."  
"But Ichigo hasn't attacked us, so that means that he's our friend still." Rangiku frowned. "Just let me see him."

Sighing once more before opening the sliding door, he gave a small nod and told her to stay quiet for their sake as he shifted the sliding door open ever so gently until there was enough room for his lieutenant to enter, and then himself, and he quietly slid the door closed afterwards. Rangiku was already on the hunt for her male orange-haired friend until she came across the empty supply room that humans would call a closet; the man was sitting upwards leaning his head against the wall with his upper attire draped over his body and revealed the nasty wounds on his body. The little captain finally entered the room and saw that Ichigo had fled to the darkness of the supply room that he never used for anything and wondered why he was in there after he said he could use his futon, and then he wondered where the man's zanpakutou was lying around. After gathering his lieutenant's attention, the two of them began looking around the lodge to find the missing item, only to have Rangiku find it right next to the entrance of the room next to the table that Toushirou would occasionally work at, and both wondered why he was away from it. She mouthed the words, 'I'm going to wake him up,' and even though Toushirou tried to decline to his subordinate, the large breasted woman was already back in the room heading towards the small little room that Ichigo hid himself in, and Toushirou hoped nothing bad would happen.

"Ichigo," Rangiku called out softly, "are you okay?"  
Brown orbs were slowly revealed, "...Rangiku-san?"  
"How have you been?" She smiled happily. "I missed you."  
The man placed a hand at his face, "thank you."  
Her head tilted in confusion, "thank you for what?"

He looked up at her and smiled lightly, "thank you for missing me." His eyes crossed with Toushirou who was behind her. "Sorry, I'm used to sleeping in trees, under trees, or on rocks, not futons." After receiving a nod from the boy, he then asked. "Is it tomorrow?"

"No, it's only noon of the day you returned." Toushirou replied. "Why do you want to leave so badly?"  
"I don't, I might harm my family by accident." His hand lowered from his face. "Hurting them will kill me."  
Rangiku smiled weakly, "you're so sensitive still!" She reached into the supply room to hug him.  
The man used a flash step to escape her grasp, and cringed, "I am... not used to the company anymore."  
"Aw, now I want to cry, Ichigo is so coldhearted now." Rangiku whined. "You're so insecure too."

"Living on my own for two years, it makes you forget who and what you are... the big things in my life became small, and the small things in my life disappeared into the back of my mind." Ichigo sat down and thought about. "I promised... to explain, didn't I?"

Toushirou crossed his arms with amusement, "so that must've been important if you remembered that. How stupid are you?"  
"A man's stupidity is another man's brilliance." Ichigo looked up at the boy. "Can you say I'm stupid when even you remember?"  
"..." Rangiku stood there with her eyes widened in surprised and her mouth slightly gaping, and then she turned to Toushirou.  
The captain snorted at the attention he was receiving and looked away, "whatever, are you going to explain yourself or not?"  
"Are you angry at me, Toushirou?" Brown eyes turned away as well. "Both times you screamed at me when I left you standing—"  
"I was not screaming," his tone became dark, "I may have yelled angrily at you, but I did **not** scream, understand Kurosaki?"

"I suppose you're right, I'm sorry." Ichigo then hiss and practically clawed at his leg painfully. "Damn it."  
"Kurosaki, what is it? Is it a wound?" Toushirou asked as he uncrossed his arms hurriedly.  
"Zangetsu..." he called out, starting to get up, "I just... need to get Zangetsu."  
"Ichigo, you're bleeding!" Rangiku called out in surprise. "Let's take you to—"  
"I'm fine." Ichigo almost snarled. "I fought some Adjuchas this morning, I haven't healed."  
"Why don't you want Unohana taichou to look at the wound then?" The female frowned worriedly.

Those serious brown orbs looked into those soft blue ones, "I do not want to take up anymore time of hers than I need to, I injured a number of Shinigami included Byakuya, Kenpachi, Rukia, and Renji." He then looked down submissively. "Unohana-san is busy..."

_'Kurosaki Ichigo left because of insecurity of having his wounds touched, or because he didn't want to take up her time that would be placed on other patients that she had at the time. He was aware that I brought Abarai to the infirmary so that he would be taken care of, but which is the proper answer?'_ Toushirou watched the two talking. _'Which one is the real truth? Or is there a hidden reason?'_


End file.
